C3 1.6Hdi Fuel Economy

[andytt]

Hello

 

What fuel economy should I really expect from my 2011 1.6 Hdi 110 C3?

 

When I purchased the car I was told it would do 70+. For the first 8k miles it told me it did 65mpg but tank to tank check was 58mpg, or 52 on a run that included the motorway.  I asked the dealer and they said it would loosen up at 10k miles.

 

Now 11k miles and doing 48mpg tank to tank.  Just serviced, the dealer just shrugs and says that the mpg advertised is ideal conditions.  I tried driving as easy as I could and all it did was regularly light the diesel particulate filter partially blocked warning! Aircon off makes little difference. The dealer said the 1.6Hdi engine is made to rev and I should ignore the economy gear change indication.  Nothing makes any difference really though.

 

Isnt 48mpg poor for a car thats driven mostly at a constant 30-50mph advertised with 70+mpg? Why would it drop fro 58mpg to 48mpg and citroen dealer think this is fine?  Still the same problem after the service.

 

Tried different filling stations, some people said esso for example was better than supermarket.  But I check the mpg tank to tank everytime and it doesnt seem to make much difference, it does as badly on the expensive brand fuel as on supermarket.

 

I wonder if the air filter is blocked?  I presume they check it on the service?  My car was just serviced and all they changed for the £225 was the oil filter and oil, not even the air filter.  A quick look on the net failed to find a guide to removing the air filter to check it, normally on cars this is just a coupe of nuts off a top plastic case and there it is...but I notice that many citroens seem to require swathes of the car to be dismantled to see the air filter! 

 

Have I just got a bad car or do all so called 70mpg+ citroens really do less than 50mpg (tank to tank check...that indicator in the car wildly over exaggerates mpg).

 

Thanks

Andy

PS Anyone have head lights that flicker for 10 minutes in the cold weather?  Again Citroen seem to think its not a fault. They do work fine after that once presumably warmed up.

 

 

 

 

[paul.h]

We have a 2011 C4 with the same engine on 24k miles and it is currently giving about 48 mpg on short trips and due to the colder weather. Motorways doing around 65 mph normally gives 60 to 70 mpg depending on the wind direction and resetting the trip meter at the start. Like any car the faster/harder it is driven the worse the economy so steady driving/not accelerating up hills and keeping to legal limits help. Resetting the trip meter before a trip will likely give a more realistic mpg than leaving it for a long time plus on previous C4s and maybe others, the trip meter stops at 9999 km (about 6200 miles) and would no longer be accurate without resetting. It is worth checking if any brakes are binding - jack up each corner and spin the wheel.

 

Our air filter has not yet been replaced. Last service at 23k miles was £280 for oil/filter, cabin filter, diesel filter replacements and the checks that are done.

 

The flickering lights could be a bad connection or earth point. Does switching them on without the engine running give the same effect when cold ?

 

If you want a workshop manual citroen dvds are available from such as ebay as a set of 3.

[andytt]

Thanks Paul

 

The dealer told me off for driving gently up to speed.  They told me I had to accelerate hard otherwise the filter would clog because the 1.6 "likes to be rev'd"!!  But I have tried driving very very gently (after warming up) resetting the trip and I can't achive indicated MPG anywhere near what it used to).

 

Not sure what you mean by resetting the trip meter. On my c3 there are three trip settings on the central display, one is current MPG (and a useless miles to go counter...whats with that?), then it has two positions where you can reset and display mileage average speed and mpg.  I set the middle position (first trip) to zero at the start of the trip, and the bottom (2nd trip) to zero when I fill up.

 

So I can measure what the car thinks it is doing to the gallon with the 1st trip, and the second I just use to check the mileage when I fillup and use the number of liters to calculate actual mpg.

 

When new the car would report 70mpg on a regular trip I make, always driven at the speed limit, a stretch of 50mph, some 30mph, then some 50mph.  This same trip now reports mid 50's.  But as I said when the car used to say it was doing say 65 average it was really doing 58 average.

 

I guess it could be that this winter everyone one, esso and supermarkets included, have dumped additives into the fuel that is heavily hitting fuel economy from the 58 it was doing to 48 now.  But it went through the previous winter without a drop in mpg.

 

I thought the brakes were binding a few months after I had the car, the MPG reading would suddenly drop at odd times and there was a burning smell from the back of the car.  However the dealer said everything is fine...I now suspect that the burning smell and drop in fuel economy may well be some form of active regeneration of the particulate filter?

 

Interesting you say your C4 does more mpg at 65mph.  From the MPG reading on the trip computer mine says it is doing its best mpg between 30-40mph.   Constant 50mph is substantially less, and 70 much worse...I just put it down to wind resistance.  But perhaps the gearing is different C3 to C4.

 

regarding the lights.  They do it over bumps on the first bit of 50mph B road for 5-10mins.  I thought I was blinking and imagining it before I went out one day when it was very cold with full defrost and when the lights flickered the fans dropped out and back on again.  Strange thing is that once warmed up a little the lights never flicker again.  You would think if it was a bad connection it would happen all the time?  Unless something is expanding and tightening a connection.  Again the dealer said they couldn't see a problem.

 

Was thinking about getting one of those ebay manuals (I see citroen now asks people to pay to download).  But the chap I looked at first seemed to have replied to everyone who gave negative feed back by calling the customer an idiot!!  Which is not great...! Ha Ha.  

 

The MPG thing is a shame, because I specifically bought the car for its claimed 70+mpg, and 48mpg is like pouring a third of a tank of fuel on the floor everytime I fill up. Like I drop £15 on the floor at the forecourt every time!!!!

 

Mind you...I didnt get off to a good start since I asked the dealer for the 99 emissions model, confirmed it was the newest when I picked it up...then found out it was the older 119 emissions one.  The dealer I bought it from basically refused to reply or talk to me and citroen said it was between me and the dealer.  So they basically stonewalled me...Only option was court, which of course is not worth it, and they knew it (no small claims option because of the value of the purchase).

 

So my 70mpg+ free tax car has turned into a £30 tax 48mpg one!!!  Mind...its very smooth for a small car (except the gearbox is  bit clunky)...shame about the dealer experience.

 

Maybe MPG will pick up again in the summer......

Edited March 14, 2013 by andytt

[andytt]

Looks like this might explain some of my mpg issues!

http://www.transportenvironment.org/publications/mind-gap-why-official-car-fuel-economy-figures-don’t-match-reality

New transport and environment report on issues with the standard mpg tests

"The report also shows that the current supervision of testing and checks on production vehicles (to ensure these are equivalent to tested vehicles) are inconsistent and inadequate, with manufacturers paying the organisations undertaking and certifying the tests. The conclusion is that the current system for measuring car and van fuel economy and CO2 emissions is not fit for purpose and is in need to urgent updating."

 

!!

[paul.h]

By resetting the trip meter I meant just what you have done, push the button on the end of the wiper stalk.

As for having to accelerate hard to stop the exhaust filter blocking - never had to do this on 2 C5s and the C4 although they have not been high mileage, 47k the highest. The other day I was talking to somebody who had recently bought a C4 with the 1.6 hdi and his filter kept indicating as though it was blocked and he was getting the dealer to try and sort it - may be it is a common fault.

[Vaudinet]

Picked up my C3 1.6 eHDi Airdream (the nil tax version) on 1st March and took a trip to France.

 

Travelling at 70 - 75mph most of the way on Motorways returned 72 mpg over 900 miles.

 

Since my return I have done a further 100 miles of mainly short trips of 5 or 10 miles and the overall mpg has dropped to 61. The reading on the trip for the local driving alone shows as 51 mpg.

 

While I have had the car I have accelerated normally and changed when I felt it was necessary rather than watching the change indicator. (44yrs driving experience both cars and bikes)

 

I bought the Manual on Ebay from the guy who describes his customers as idiots and found the mechanical side loaded no problem but when I try to access the Electrical diagrams I get an error.

 

No problem with my lights, they worked fine on my France trip especially on the A14 and A1 which was bad enough to undo a few fillings and leads me to my next point.

 

The only fault I have found with my car is the rear suspension seem extremely soft and hitting minor potholes or heavy over-banding causes rear of the car to bounce towards the near-side. A change of shocks by the dealer has made no difference.

 

Anyone else get the same feeling with the bumps ?

 

Stobie

[paul.h]

For the wiring diagrams you have to load the SVG viewer which comes with it, if not already done. There should be some info in the help pages that can be found from Start, All Programs, SEDREAC, Help but from memory I think it is in the left column of the wiring pages. If printing I find using the mouse right click and print preview easiest.

Edited March 22, 2013 by paul.h

[Vaudinet]

Yup, already picked up on the SVG Viewer but still get (In French) error 500.

 

Given up on that now anyway and decided to go about things differently.

 

Stobie